The rest day seemed to have helped both the Indian teams at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. The defending champion India scored badly-needed wins in the open and women’s sections in the seventh round on Wednesday.

After the loss to host Uzbekistan in the previous round -- their first in the tournament -- the Indian men should be relieved that they could defeat England 2.5-1.5. It was the wins by R. Praggnanandhaa and D. Gukesh over Nikita Vitiugov and Daniel Howard Fernandez, respectively, that nullified Nihal Sarin’s second straight defeat, this time to Luke McShane. Arjun Erigaisi drew with Michael Adams.

Uzbekistan has maintained its sole lead after scoring a crucial 3-1 win over China. The home team has 14 match points, two more than India and four others – the Netherlands, Germany, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In the women’s event too, India is in joint second place, but just one point less than the leaders China and Kazakhstan who have 13 each. India is tied for the second position with Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia and Mongolia.

Four rounds remain. The Indian women should take a lot of confidence into their remaining matches after their crushing 3.5-0.5 win against Germany. Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh and B. Savitha Shri all won their games, while R. Vaishali drew.

The results (seventh round): Open: India bt England 2.5-1.5 (R. Praggnanandhaa bt Nikita Vitiugov; Arjun Erigaisi drew with Michael Adams; Nihal Sarin lost to Luke McShane; D. Gukesh bt Daniel Howard Fernandez).

Uzbekistan bt China 3-1; Armenia drew with USA 2-2; Germany bt Turkiye 3-1; Netherlands bt Bulgaria 3.5-0.5; Azerbaijan bt Greece 3.5-0.5; France drew with Uzbekistan (2) 2-2; Hungary bt Australia 2.5-1.5; Serbia bt Kazakhstan 3.5-0.5; Poland bt Sweden 2.5-1.5; Slovakia bt Iran 2.5-1.5; Czech Republic bt Lithuania 2.5-1.5.

Women: India bt Germany 3.5-0.5 (Koneru Humpy bt Dinara Wagner; R. Vaishali drew with Elisabeth Paehtz; Divya Deshmukh bt Hanna Marie Klek; B. Savitha Shri bt Lara Schulze).

Uzbekistan bt Slovenia 3.5-0.5; China drew with Kazakhstan 2-2; Georgia bt Poland 2.5-1.5; Bulgaria bt Ukraine 3-1; Armenia bt Azerbaijan 2.5-1.5; Mongolia bt France 2.5.1.5; USA bt Switzerland 3-1; Netherlands bt Turkiye 3.5-0.5; Cuba drew with Serbia 2-2; Canada bt Hungary 2-2.